A Helping Hand
by BohemianChic
Summary: When Madeline Westen's friend, a young, battered wife has enough of her husband's abuse she turns to Michael for help. Eventually Michael/OC.
1. Going out on a limb

a/n- Hello all! This story just pretty much popped into my head while I was doing Homework and my Husband was watching Burn Notice. Needless to say I wrote this instead of finishing my Homework!

Disclaimer-I do not own any characters related to Burn Notice and so on and so forth.

* * *

><p>It would be a lie to say that I was not intimidated at all by Michael Westen.<p>

He wasn't very tall but, he was muscular, stone faced and powerful looking. The way he held himself; tall, proud, even a little cocky, screamed ex-Military. The only thing that I was not intimidated by were Michael's eyes. They were soft, caring. Those beautiful blue eyes of his made my knees buckle the first time I met him.

It was raining when I met Michael, pouring to be exact. I can't even begin to imagine how horrible I looked standing on Madeline's porch, dripping wet.

I knocked three quick knocks and waited for Madeline to answer but, as the front door swung open I came face to face with a strange man that I had never seen before. He was dressed in a fitted black t-shirt and a plain pair of jeans. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until he spoke. "Can I help you?" He asked. His voice was deep, rumbly.

I contemplated running. I then heard the familiar voice of Madeline Westen call from somewhere in the house. "Who is it, Michael?" She called.

"You'd better come here, Ma." Michael called back. Madeline appeared at Michael's side, dressed in an outfit of whites, greens and yellows with matching hoop earrings. Madeline was clearly shocked to see me.

"Sarah!" She gasped stepping out onto the porch. "Oh, Sarah… again?" She whispered putting her arm around me. She led me passed a very confused Michael and into the house.

"I didn't know where else to go" I whispered as hot tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to fall. "I'm sorry."

Madeline rubbed my back. "There's nothing to be sorry about." She soothed. "Michael, get me a towel... she's soaked." Michael did as he was asked and returned seconds later with a large, fluffy, blue towel. Taking the towel from Michael Madeline gently handed it to me and led me the house. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and change out of those clothes, Sarah? Just throw them out into the hallway and I will put them in the dryer for you." I quietly nodded in response and made my way to the bathroom.

After I got out of my clothes and had rung them out as best as I could in the bathroom sink I wrapped the towel around myself and as gently and as quietly as I could I reopened the bathroom door and placed my clothes on the tiled hallway floor. I paused for a moment. I could hear Michael talking from the living room. He sounded angry.

"Who the hell is that, Ma?" He demanded.

"Her name is Sarah, and she's a friend, a friend in need!" Madeline curtly replied.

"A friend?" Michael retorted. "She's a teenager! And a pretty dinged up one at that."

I quietly shut the bathroom door once again and sat down on the lid of the toilet. I could still hear their conversation through the door...

"Well, that 'teenager' is going through a troubled marriage" Replied Madeline.

"How come you never mentioned your _friend_ to me? And why is she coming to you? She looks like she needs to go to the police!" Michael retorted, clearly annoyed.

Madeline scoffed before replying. "You don't tell me everything about your life Michael and I don't tell you everything about mine."

There was a long heated pause. "Ma…" Michael started to say but abruptly stopped. Madeline must have shushed him because there as an exasperated sigh and the sound of the front door closing.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Sarah?" asked Madeline. I stood up and opened the door she gasped quietly when she saw me. "You should get some ice on those bruises…"

I had yet to look at myself in the mirror… I didn't want to see what _he_ did to me again. "I'm sorry" I whispered. Madeline put her hand up, an indicator for me to stop talking.

"I have some old t-shirts and things in the garage from when Michael and Nate were teenagers. I'll get you something to change into while your clothes dry." I nodded and smiled faintly at Madeline.

Dressed in pair of way too baggy sweat pants that I had to roll up several times in order for me to walk properly and a baggy red t-shirt. I sat at Madeline's kitchen table running my fingers through my damp hair in frugal attempt to tame it.

"Would you like some tea or coffee, or how about something to eat?" Madeline asked me.

"Coffee, please." I replied with a smile, even though my face hurt at the small motion. "Maddie..." I said suddenly. "You said that your son helps people?" I asked going out on a limb.

"Yes, Michael does." She answered simply as she ran water through the coffee maker on the far end of the kitchen counter.

'_Could he help me?' _I asked myself.

The sudden opening and slamming of Madeline's front door made me jump. Michael walked into the kitchen. "Sorry…" he mumbled sitting down opposite me. I nervously avoided eye contact with him at all costs.

As the room went silent Michael awkwardly cleared his throat, the guttural sound made me flinch unintentionally. Quietly Madeline sat a cup of steaming coffee in front of me before lighting up a cigarette and sitting down next to me.

"I should have done this earlier but under the circumstances… Sarah, this is my oldest son, Michael." I gave Michael a weak smile "And, Michael this is Sarah." Madeline said introducing us. Michael gave me nod and a smile, a smile that melted my heart. "Sarah needs your help Michael." Madeline sad matter-of-factly.

Staring into my cup of coffee I took a deep breath, it was now or never. "My husband, Jacob, has gotten into some bad things…" I said, my voice trailing off.

* * *

><p>an- I'll be leaving it there for now. I have a few different ideas of how this story is going to play out but, suggestions of ANY kind are beyond welcome! Please, if you have an idea or something please, please do not hesitate to PM me! I will be very happy and thankful for the help and brainstorming!

Read & Review :D


	2. Let's start from the beginning

a/n- Hi there, everyone. I can't thank you enough for the kind reviews!

Disclaimer- I don't own anything Burn Notice related.

* * *

><p>As much as I hated to, I had to start from the very beginning to get Michael up to speed. He sat there quietly, his blue eyes alert, I could tell that he was going to be a very good listener.<p>

"When I met Jacob I was only sixteen years old." I began. "And he was twenty four. My parents didn't approve of him right off the bat because of the age difference. But, Jacob was a funny, handsome… a total charmer, and a few months away from finishing college."

I paused for a moment, finally taking a sip of my coffee. The taste and smell were somewhat comforting to me. I put the cup down and stared into the dark liquid as I went on.

"He had an amazing apartment right here in Miami, a beautiful car and no job. Maybe if I was a little older I would have found that to be suspicious." I sighed dejectedly at my young stupidity. "I was crazy for Jacob and since my parents didn't approve of us, I rebelled. After being together for six months I found out that he mixed up with drugs in some way or another." I stopped for a moment collecting my thoughts.

"The night I found out I had snuck out of my parent's house to go see Jacob. He had no idea that I was coming over, it was supposed to be a surprise... When I got to his apartment he was less than thrilled to see me but, he let me in."

I looked up from my coffee and made eye contact with Michael, he nodded to me. Madeline reached over, took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I smiled weakly at her before continuing.

"So, I stayed over, and I happened to wake up in the middle of the night, I just felt like something was wrong. I got up and found Jacob in the living room with three other men, huddled around the coffee table. Money was laid out and they were inspecting little baggies. It became obvious very quickly that I shouldn't have seen what I saw. Jacob saw me before the other men did. When he got up I saw that he was very angry. I had never seen him that angry before… It scared me. He grabbed me and hauled me back into the bedroom."

I stopped talking as I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I had never told anyone about that night before and this was well… awkward.

"As soon as Jacob shut the bedroom door he started yelling at me, he was livid. I was so startled that I started to cry and out of nowhere he backhanded me. That was the first time he had ever hit me. He told me that if I told anyone about what I had seen there would be problems… And then he just left the room, like nothing had happened." I stared into my coffee cup once again and shook my head as I tried to fight back tears. "I should have left that night. I was so stupid!" I cried, frustrated with myself.

"Sarah…" Michael began, his voice smooth, soothing almost. "It's okay" He reassured me. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself, I nodded in agreement.

"It's not like I can change my actions now." I whispered. "The next day Jacob apologized, He came clean to me, and he told me everything. He had become involved with a drug gang as a teenager and had been dealing drugs to get himself through college… He told me that was his last deal since he was to graduate in a few months' time… I stupidly forgave him. After Jacob graduated we eloped and eight months later I gave birth to our son, Joshua. He's six years old now."

I smiled a little at the thought of my little boy. But, my smile soon faltered as my thoughts returned to Jacob and why I was sitting in Madeline Westen's house, at her table, talking with and spilling my guts to her Son.

"It had been a few years since I saw Jacob with the drugs and he hadn't hurt me since then. It seemed that everything was going well, Jacob had gotten a great job and I was going to night school to get my GED. But, Jacob started drinking and out of the blue he started to turn on me. He started being down right mean to me, calling me names, telling me that I had gotten fat since I had Joshua, accusing me of wanting to leave him after I got my GED. He just wasn't the Jacob that I knew anymore." I stopped to take another sip of my coffee before continuing on.

"One night we got into a stupid fight, I had dropped Joshua off at a friend's house for a few hours so I could get some studying done. I didn't tell Jacob what I was going to do, I wanted to surprise Jacob when he got home from work with a little _us_ time. He got home and everything went to hell. He was angry that I left Joshua with one of my friends and he accused me of cheating on him since I was home alone. I got mad and told him that he was wrong. Things got really heated and that eventually led to things getting physical again between him and I. I guess you can say that that was the beginning of the end."

I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts once again.

"It's hard on Josh, you know, knowing that his mom and dad constantly fight. He's a great little guy. He really is. I love him to death. He's smart, funny and brave as hell! And now Josh is at that nosy age, you know where he hears and sees almost everything… No six year old should be exposed to this kind of violence and abuse. I try to shield him from what I can, I really do… He's recently has gotten into the habit of getting between Jacob and I when Jacob starts in on me. I guess he's gotten tired of seeing his dad beat his mom. It's just not fair that he's got an abusive jerk for a father."

Michael scoffed. Curiously, I made eye contact with him. "That's one thing your son and I have in common."

I didn't say anything. I just stared, like an idiot, at the man sitting across from me. '_Say something!' _My mind screamed.

Thankfully Madeline spoke up, "Michael, don't start bashing your father." She said, rolling her eyes as she lit up another cigarette.

"C'mon, ma the man was an abusive bastard..." Michael retorted.

Suddenly the room went awkwardly quiet. Through the silence I could hear that it was still raining, the sound was soothing. I wanted nothing more than to go out and sit on Madeline's porch... Just watch the rain… and forget about everything.

"Has your husband hurt your son?" Michael asked, breaking the silence.

"Not until recently." I answered honestly. "All of Jacob's anger was directed toward me but, about two weeks ago Jacob was getting onto me about not having dinner ready in what he thought was a reasonable amount of time and he got me into a corner and started hitting me. Joshua heard me screaming and came to help me. Jacob wasn't having it and he hit Josh across the face, broke his nose, he…"

Michael cut me off. "Where is your son now?" He questioned urgently.

"He's at this Grandparents' house, they live in Miami Beach." I answered.

"He's safe there?" Michael questioned harshly.

I hesitated before answering. "Sarah…" Michael moaned disapprovingly.

"Joshua's grandparents would never let anything happen to him!" I exclaimed.

"'Joshua's grandparents?'" Michael questioned "Are they not your parents?" He asked quirking an eyebrow at me. I shook my head in response. "You left your son with your abusive Husband's parents?"

"I know! I know how terrible that sounds and seems!" I shouted, frustrated. "I had no one else to leave him with. I had to get him out of our house and away from his father! David and Sue have given me their word that they would keep Jacob away from Josh."

"Alright, alright" Michael sighed putting his hands up in defeat. "If you believe that Josh is safe then I won't push you to move him again." I nodded my head silently in response. "Now, tell me more about your Husband."

I took a deep breath before replying. "The idiot I married graduated college with a business degree, he held a job for about three years until he was laid off. He's now the head supervisor of a warehouse in Hialeah for a company that sells commercial flooring and such. Jacob runs with a gang from the warehouse, I recognized a few of the men he hangs around with to be the ones I saw that night in Jacob's apartment. I'm thinking the flooring business is just serving as a front for the drug gang. If I could prove that that is true, Jacob will be locked up and my son and I will be able to live our lives."

Pushing my chair away from the table I stood and stretched. Michael quickly followed suit. "Do you think we could continue this outside?" I asked, hopeful. I looked over to Madeline who had to be half way through her pack of cigarettes.

"Do what you need to, Honey." She said "While you finish up with Michael I'll make us all some sandwiches." She added with a grin. I looked over to Michael who had made his way over to the front door. He stood in the open door way, motioning for me to follow him.

Sitting down on the bottom of porch steps I gently and a bit childishly stuck my feet in a little puddle that had formed at the bottom of the steps. Michael sat down next to me. "Can I ask what happened before you came here tonight?" Michael prompted.

"I work a few nights a week in a diner at the airport. It's not much but its helping me feed my son and helping me to kind of put myself through school. I knew that my shift was going to run a little late, so I borrowed a co-worker's phone to text Jacob telling him what was going on so I wouldn't have to hear about it when I got home. Well, I got home and he was waiting for me. Right away he started to ream me asking me where I really was, who I was with. He wasn't satisfied with my truthful answer and started in on me, as you can see." I pointed to my face which hurt like hell.

"Why did you come to my mother instead of going to the police?" Michael asked gently. I shrugged in response as I continued to play in the puddle. "Sarah." Michael said firmly.

I looked up at him, hazel locked onto blue; I felt my heart skip a beat. "The only thing the police told me that I could do was get a restraining order and I knew that once the restraining order was up things would go back to the way they were, maybe even worse." I answered truthfully. "Your mother is a sweet woman and she understands what I am going through. It's nice to have someone on my side for a change."

Michael nodded his head in agreement before I continued. "I also remembered your mom telling me that one of her sons helps people and I need help. I can't live like this anymore. Like I said if I could prove that the flooring business that Jacob works for is a front for the drugs, I'll be free! I can't just put an anonymous call into the cops telling them what I think. Jacob may be an abusive bastard but he's smart, he…"

Michael cut me off "I'll help you." He said firmly.

I smiled gratefully at the man sitting next to me. I hardly knew him, and yet I trusted him with every fiber of my being.

* * *

><p>an- I won't lie... This chapter did not want to cooperate with me at all. That's why it took so long for me to update. Sorry guys! Please read and review! And if you have any suggestions please feel free to voice them. Thank you so much for reading! You guys are awesome!


	3. New Faces, New Friends

a/n- Hi everyone. I can't thank you enough for the amazingly kind reviews. They had me on cloud nine for days! You guys seriously rock!

Disclaimer- I don't own anything Burn Notice related.

* * *

><p>After saying what felt like my millionth thank you Michael awkwardly shook my hand, said goodbye to his mother and left, Leaving Madeline and I alone. She kindly gave me my freshly dried clothes along with a blanket and two pillows and told me to set myself up in the spare bedroom she had.<p>

The spare bedroom was small, cozy and smelled of moth balls. Looking around at the scuffed floor and sun worn walls I suddenly wondered if this was Michael or Nate's room. I silently put the blanket and pillows on the bed and folded my ratty pair of jeans and old, light blue t-shirt. I was lost in my own thoughts for a while. "What if this all blows up in my face?" I whispered to myself as I sat on the edge of the bed.

I spent a semi-sleepless night pacing around the bedroom, thinking.

* * *

><p>To my surprise, during the course of my pacing I had apparently tired myself out because, the next thing I knew I woke up with a start in a strange bed, the sun was up and someone was lightly knocking on the bedroom door.<p>

"Sarah?" Madeline called through the door. I silently got out of the bed and opened the door, giving Madeline a small smile. "Oh good you slept." Madeline replied as she took in my disheveled form. "Michael called; he should be over in a little while." My heart hammered in my chest at the mention of Michael and I could feel a hot blush creep into my cheeks. I didn't know what to say so, I nodded dumbly in reply. Without another word Madeline smiled at me, knowingly and left me to get ready.

With my clothes in hand I slipped out of the spare bedroom and down the hallway. I silently hoped, as I quickly made my way to the bathroom, that my face didn't look as bad as it felt. As much as I hated to, I flicked the on light switch in the bathroom, took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.

A terribly bruised, broken and frightened looking girl sadly stared back at me. Scrapes and bruises littered my face and forearms here and there but, the worse of it all was my left eye, it was swollen and terribly bruised. Suddenly I was repulsed by my own pitiful reflection. I hated myself with every fiber of my being.

I lightly brushed the purple, bruised skin around my eye with the tips of my pointer and middle fingers "How could I let things get this bad?" I whispered angrily. I took a deep breath and a few moments later I managed to pull myself together.

After searching the bathroom I found a hair tie and small tube of unopened toothpaste under the sink, I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth with the tip of my finger and ran my fingers through my hair to get whatever tangles I could out, After quickly tying my hair securely into a low side ponytail I grabbed my borrowed sweat pants and t-shirt and glanced at myself in the mirror one more time.

As I walked out of the bathroom I was greeted by the fresh smell of cigarette smoke and the familiar voices of Madeline and Michael, to my surprise there were also two voices that were unfamiliar to me, another man who had a cool, smooth voice and a woman.

I hated meeting new people, especially when evidence of my abuse is displayed so clearly on my body. I stood in the hallway biting my lip, contemplating if I should just go back to the spare bedroom, hide. I quickly turned on my heel to go back to my room when I suddenly heard a voice behind me. "I thought I heard footsteps..."

My heart nearly stopped. '_Busted'_ my mind screamed. I clutched my borrowed clothes to my chest and slowly turned around to look at Michael. "It's okay, it's just me." He said gently. "No need to look so frightened." He raised his hands slowly in surrender.

"Good morning, Michael." I whispered.

He smiled at me. "Good morning, Sarah." He replied. Silently, Michael motioned for me to follow him down the hallway and into the kitchen.

The unnamed man and woman sat at the table talking in hushed tones, while Madeline bustled around the kitchen. The woman was the first to look up at Michael and I. She was pretty and skinny… very skinny, with straight brown hair and a distinguished looking face. She was dressed in a plain pair of jean shorts with a white top. I felt inferior just being in the same room as her.

The man sitting opposite her was kicking back what looked like to be his third beer judging by the two bottles in front of him. He was older looking; with streaks of grey littering his hair here and there. To be honest, he had a nice face. I was sure that he was very good looking when he was younger. He was dressed in a bright blue Hawaiian print shirt, cargo shorts and flip flops. He looked very comfortable to say the least.

"Sarah, meet Fiona Glenanne and Sam Axe." Michael said motioning to the man and woman. Both Sam and Fiona nodded and smiled. Michael walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for me. I inwardly cringed as I sat down and I smiled awkwardly at the two strangers.

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah." Fiona said a little too sweetly.

"How's it goin', Kid?" asked Sam with a smile and a tip of his beer bottle.

"Here, put this on your eye." Michael said as appeared at my side and handed me a bag of frozen vegetables.

"You're serious?" I questioned looking at him, not taking the bag from him.

"Michael, put my vegetables back and give that poor girl a proper ice pack." Madeline said, scolding her son.

"Ma, these will do just fine." Michael replied curtly.

One smack to the head and a scowl from Madeline was all it took for Michael to give me an actual ice pack.

"Sam and Fi are here to help with your case." Michael began to explain to me. "We are going to start off with surveillance. Any and all information you could give us about your Husband; His full name, what kind of car he drives, his habits and the address of his work would be a great and it would help Sam and Fi to start as soon as possible."

I thought for a moment before speaking. "So, you're going to watch my Husband?" I asked bluntly.

"For a little while, just to see if we can catch him in his drug act. If we can this will be the single smoothest case we have ever done." Sam answered.

"So, what if you don't come up with anything? Jacob is smart. He will know if he's being watched! What happens then?" I questioned.

Fiona answered me this time "Then we take him down from inside his little drug gang." She said simply with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. We'll handle it." Michael assured me. "After you give us all the information you can Sam is going to take you to see your Son while Fiona and I get some supplies together for the surveillance."

I smiled at the thought of my son. "Alright" I agreed.

"Fi, I'm going to need to borrow your car." Sam said flatly.

"What?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You heard Mikey, you're going with him, you two can take the Charger."

Fiona rolled her eyes "What's the matter with your own car, Sam?"

Sam took another drink of his beer before answering "Chuck Finley knows his way around Miami Beach and Chuck Finley drives a nicer car than Sam Axe has" he said with a grin.

Fiona shot Sam another icy look before groaning and nodding her head. "Oh, alright… I'll need to empty the trunk if you are taking it…"

Sam grinned again. "Alright! Now you're talking!" He said as he tipped his beer bottle toward Fiona. "Let's go empty that baby out!" He said jumping up from his seat at the table. "Where can we put her toys, Maddie?" Sam asked turning to Madeline who was leaned up against the kitchen counter smoking.

"I've got a tarp in the garage" She answered simply nodding through the kitchen toward the back door.

Fiona waited until Madeline and Sam were out the back door before leaning over and whispering to Michael. "I hope I don't regret this later." Michael chuckled in response.

"Fiona! Let's go sister! Time's a-wastin'!" Sam yelled from the back door.

Fiona groaned and stood up from the table "I hate him sometimes." She whispered to us as she walked out the back door.

I laughed lightly "Who is Chuck Finley? And what are Fiona's 'toys?'" I asked, amused.

Michael laughed. "He's Sam's cover alias. If you stick around long enough you'll see him more and more, and Fiona's 'toys' consist of Guns, blocks explosives, Tasers things like that. She's trigger-happy." I stared at Michael "You asked."

"Sarah" Michael began in a serious tone "As soon as you finish up at your in-laws Sam is going to bring you right back here, understand? You…"

I felt my insides go cold "No!" I cut in. "I can't come back here. Jacob will become suspicious. I need to go home." I said firmly.

Michael shook his head "It's not safe for you there, Sarah" he said warningly.

"I can't just up and leave, Michael I have obligations! I have to go to work. I need to be putting away money somehow. I'm also throwing a lot of hard earned money at college classes. I need to go to class! If I leave out of the blue, especially after what happened between us last night he'll find me and I'll pay for it! I need to go on with my life, I…"

"I can keep you safe!" Michael exclaimed, cutting me off.

My heart thudded in my ears. I suddenly felt suffocated, trapped. I hurriedly got up from my seat.

"Sarah…"

I walked passed Michael, ignoring him.

"Sarah, where are you going?" Michael called after me as I walked toward the front door. I heard his chair scrape across the kitchen floor. Ignoring him again, I pulled the front door open and closed it quietly behind me. I sat down at the top of the porch steps, pulled my knees to my chest and rested my right cheek on my left knee. I didn't know what to do. I needed help but, at what cost? I sat in blissful silence, thinking.

Suddenly, felt a hand on my shoulder, I was so lost in thought I didn't even hear the front door open, footsteps or even feel someone sit down next to me. "You know… if you need to talk…" Michael said breaking the silence.

"Michael, I…" I struggled to find the words. I turned around, locking eyes with him. He stared down at me, his eyes filled with nothing more than patience and understanding. "I've made a decision." I said sounding more confident than I felt. "Give me a week to go on with my life as usual."

Michael opened his mouth in protest but I went on. "If you allow me to do that I'll go wherever you want me to go and do whatever you want me to do when the week is up. I know you think this is dangerous but, this is something I need to do. Let me tie up loose ends at work, inform my professors that I will be missing a few classes let me say goodbye to my old life before everything changes…"

We sat in silence for a few minutes. "Do you have a cell phone?" Michael suddenly asked. I stared at him, confused. I shook my head no. "I don't necessarily agree with your plan but, if you are going back home for a week we need to get you a phone, just for emergencies." I silently nodded my understanting. "Come on" he said offering me his hand as he stood up. Michael quickly pulled me up from the stairs and onto my feet. "Sam and Fi should be done clearing out Fi's trunk by now." He said as he led me around to the back of the house.

"You just about ready to go, Sarah?" Sam called when he saw Michael and I.

I quietly nodded my head and smiled at Sam in response.

"I just need to get some information from Sarah and you two can be on your way" Michael said as he led me up the back stoop and into the kitchen.

When I had finally given Michael all the specifics he asked for I found myself a bit upset that he wasn't the one taking me to see my son.

'_I'll see him again in a week'_ I told myself as Michael shut the passenger side door for me.

He leaned on the door to talk to Sam as he got in the driver's side "Take Sarah to get a cell phone, okay?" Michael said as he reached passed me to give Sam a wad of cash.

"You've got it, Brother." Sam answered as he stuffed the cash into his pocket.

Michael turned to me "If you need anything Sarah, anything at all day or night you call me…" Michael was suddenly interrupted when he was pushed aside by Fiona who stuck her head into her car.

"I swear to god, Sam if anything happens to this car I will kill you." She threatened.

Sam mearly chuckled darkly in reply.

"I mean it!" She shouted before getting pushed to the said by Michael.

"Get back, Fi" He groaned. I looked at Michael, worry clearly written across my face. Michael laughed "Don't look so worried." He said as he stepped away from the car. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I nodded.

"Alright!" Sam exclaimed as he backed Fiona's car out into the road. "Let's go cell phone shopping!"

* * *

><p>an- And that's a wrap for chapter 3. Please read and review! And if you have any suggestions please feel free to voice them. Thank you so much for reading! You guys are awesome! EDIT: I have NO idea what happened with this chapter. I went back to look at it in the website and the paragraphs were all messed up so, I had to go back through and revamp the set up… smh.


	4. Monster in law

a/n- Hi everyone. I'm sorry… It's been a while. Life got in the way. Finals came and went and now I'm in a two week summer class… Joy. As soon as that is over with updates _SHOULD_ come quicker. Thank you so much for being so kind and patient. You guys are the best! Oh, and all mistakes and such are my own. Sorry in advance.

Disclaimer- I don't own anything Burn Notice related.

* * *

><p>Sam was very comfortable to be around. His voice and laugh were both hearty and calming. After a few minutes of friendly chatter as he drove I felt as if I was in the presence of an old friend. Our Conversation gradually turned to Michael; I learned about his military time, his time as a spy and his current predicament- his burn notice, which I found oddly interesting.<p>

"Burned or not Michael is a very skilled spy." Sam explained as he pulled onto the interstate. "He's very emphatic and protective of his family, friends and even clients." he said as he threw me a side glance. I said nothing, Sam went on. "He's great at thinking on his feet, be it in the middle of a case if something hasn't gone to plan, or in general. When Michael's not improvising with electronics or even ordinary objects he sometimes resorts to diversions, when he needs them… You know, explosions and such" Sam glanced at me and chuckled.

"Michael likes to destroy cars, especially mine. The first car or mine to go was my Cadillac. It's a great story, it really is." Sam laughed loudly "Here's the short version; The Caddy was a present from a… lady-friend. I loaned Michael the car after a case and he returned it to me all scraped up. If that wasn't bad enough, Fi and I went with Michael and the client for the current case that we had, and waited as the two of them broke into a tech building where the client was stripping some data from a computer to trade for his family."

He threw me another side glance "You following me here?" he asked. I nodded in response.

"So, Fi and I are waiting for Michael and the client when all of a sudden something goes wrong, Michael shoots out a window and the two of them come jumping out and hop into the Caddy… and now for the best part, As we're gunning it the 'bad guy'" Sam said exaggerating with air quotations "Opens fire on my car! Needless to say the lady-friend wasn't too happy when she saw the car. Boy, did that put me in the dog house. We finally broke up and she took the car back." He finished, sighing. "Next was my Buick. And after that was another lady-friend's convertible. Michael sent that one over the side of a building…" Sam sighed dejectedly

"What?" I laughed a little louder than I planned. "That's insane!" I exclaimed. Sam nodded in agreement. We soon fell back into comfortable silence as Sam drove on.

I opted to wait in the car while Sam went into the little open air mall. I knew nothing about cellphones. I did have a cell phone once before, my parents had given me one for my birthday many years ago. It was nothing spectacular. When I had left my parents' house and gone to live with Jacob, much to the dismay of my parents, payment was stopped on it… and it became a paperweight.

Suddenly the realization that I hadn't spoken to my parents in over six years slammed into me. They didn't even know about Joshua. I bit my lip, wondering if they would even speak to me again.

"Here ya go." Sam said, suddenly appearing outside the passenger side door, his voice jerking me from my thoughts. "A brand new phone, just what the doctor ordered. The woman at the cell phone kiosk said that it was one of the best on the market right now, a Droid or something." He said handing me a plastic bag with a large box in it.

I pulled the box out of the bag and slowly opened it, revealing a brick of a phone. It was sleek, yet heavy in my hand. I loved it. "Thank you" I whispered smiling up at Sam.

"Hey, don't thank me; I'm just the delivery boy. Thank Mike." He said pulling his sunglasses far enough down his nose to wink at me before replacing them to their original position. "Oh!" Sam said suddenly. "I also got us some lunch" he said passing a heavy white paper bag through the passenger side window. "I hope you like chili dogs!"

The drive to Miami Beach was uneventful. We drove in comfortable silence, Save for me giving Sam directions here and there.

My in-law's house was big, bigger than they, in my opinion, needed. Their house was set on a beautiful piece perfectly landscaped property that backed right up to the beach. Sam looked around, impressed as we slowly made our way up their manicured drive way. "You can close your mouth anytime now." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

Sam scoffed "What?" He said innocently as we reached the end of the drive way. Before Sam had even put the car in park my darling mother in law, Sue was at the front door, dressed in an expensive looking tennis outfit, her graying hair up in a tight bun.

I slowly got out of the car, followed closely by Sam and made my way up the porch steps, bracing myself for my mother in law to talk down to me, as usual. "Sarah…" Sue said dryly, her eyes rolling as she said my name. "We weren't expecting you today. I thought we established that you would call before coming over."

I rolled my eyes "I know. I'm sorry, Sue. It's just that…" Before I could finish she cut me off

"You know Joshua is still at school." She said coldly.

"What? Why?" I questioned

"It's Wednesday, Remember? Joshua's after school program?" Sue answered condescendingly. "Honestly…" She whispered to herself.

I could feel my blood begin to boil and I did my best to hold my tongue.

"Who is this?" Sue questioned sharply, looking Sam up and down.

"This is my friend…" I began before Sam cut me off.

"Chuck Finley" Sam answered smoothly, with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He continued, charmingly. Sue did not return the smile.

"The Chauffer should be back with Joshua within the hour." She said as she checked her watch. "I am late for my tennis lesson, I am sure my instructor is patiently waiting down the Tennis courts for me. I would invite you to wait inside, but I do not like strangers in my house." She said turning on her heel to leave "You are more than welcome to wait on the porch." She called over her shoulder.

Sam threw me a side glance and chuckled weakly. "I hate her." I groaned as soon as Sue was out of earshot.

"Somehow I think the feeling is mutual." Sam muttered as he made his way back to Fiona's car. I rolled my eyes and wrinkled my nose in response.

Soon enough a shiny, expensive looking black car slowly rolled up the driveway and before the car could come to a complete halt one of its backdoors opened and my son burst out of the backseat "Mommy!" he screamed dropping his backpack on the ground and hurling himself toward me.

I was then promptly tackled by my six year old. "Hi, Mommy!" he said happily sitting on the ground next to me. He leaned in close and whispered "I missed you."

"I missed you too." I whispered as I sat up and pulled him into a long hug.

I looked up long enough to see a strange man, who had to be the Chauffer, glaring at us on the ground disapprovingly. "Move along." I heard Sam say to the man.

When we finally pulled away from each other I was able to look my son up and down. His usually messy brown hair was perfectly cut and styled and his clothes were free of wrinkles. It seemed that he had grown a considerable amount in the short amount time that I was away from him. I laughed and whispered "What has your Grandmother done to you?" before pulling him close once more.

"I didn't know that you were going to be here today!" Josh exclaimed beaming up at me. "Are here with Daddy?" he questioned excitedly.

"No." I answered. My son's face fell. It broke my heart to see him look so sad.

"Are you and Daddy still fighting? Is that why your face is hurt?" he questioned as he gently touched my bruised face.

"Yes, sweetheart…" I answered unsure of what else to say.

"Oh." Was all he said as he picked himself up off the ground.

In a desperate attempt to change the subject I quickly got up off the ground as well and reached into Fiona's car to get my new cell phone. "Josh, look what I got today!" I said excitedly holding out the phone. Josh turned around and smiled when he spotted the device in my hand. "Let me take a picture of you?" I asked. He nodded eagerly.

"I can take one of the both of you, if you'd like." Sam spoke up as he came around from the driver's side of Fiona's car.

"Who is that, Mommy?" Josh asked clearly startled, his green eyes wide.

"It's okay. That's Sam, he's a friend." I calmly explained. Sam came over to where Josh and I were standing and held his hand out to Josh.

Unsure of what to do Josh protectively got in front of me and asked sternly "You aren't going to hurt my Mommy, right?"

Sam chuckled "No, never. Your Mommy and I are friends."

Josh thought for a moment "Okay." He said quietly, as he grabbed my hand.

"You know Josh," Sam continued "It's really great to meet you, Kiddo." He said with a grin. Josh returned the grin and finally shook Sam's hand.

"Okay, so how's about that picture of you two?" Sam asked reaching for my phone.

"Just a second," I said looking at my son's perfectly styled hair "Josh needs to fix his hair."

Josh looked at me in surprise. "Really?" he asked. "Grandma says it looks better this way."

I wrinkled my nose in reply. "Grandma doesn't know what she's talking about." I whispered. Without another moment of hesitation Josh ran his hands back and forth through his hair causing it to stick up every which way. "There's my boy!" I laughed, pulling him into a hug. "Okay, we're ready, Sam" I said kneeling down next to Josh and smiling.

"Are you going to watch me during my Tennis lesson, Mommy?" Josh asked excitedly as Sam returned my phone.

"Oh, you play Tennis now, do you?" I laughed as I ran my hand through my son's hair.

"Yes." He said with a little smile "That's what I do after school on Wednesdays now. Grandma says it good for me… and I'm good at it." He added in a whisper.

"Okay, maybe for a little while." I answered as I caressed my son's cheek.

"For a little while?" He questioned pulling away from me. "I'm not going home with you, am I?" he whispered realization washing across his face.

"No, Josh… Not today." I answered kneeling down in front of him. I helplessly watched as my Son's face scrunched into a pout. I braced myself for the guilt trip that was certainly on its way.

"I don't like it here, Mommy. I want to come home!" he cried, balling his fists.

"I know, I know." I said nodding my head in agreement. "I want you home too, but this is just temporary. Okay? I need to take care of a few things and then you will be able to come home." I said trying to sound as reassuring as I could. Josh looked at me sadly, but nodded that he understood.

"When does your tennis lesson start?" I asked, changing the subject at all costs.

"As soon as Grandma's lesson ends." Josh answered picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll be right back, Mommy. Please stay right there. I want you to see my Tennis clothes." He said with a little smile.

"Do you want my help?" I asked. Josh shook his head before turning and running up the porch stairs and into the house.

"He seems like a great kid." Sam commented as I stood in front of him while he lazily leaned against Fiona's car.

"He really is." I agreed. "Though, he's had to grow up too quickly." I added in a whisper.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It is what it is." Sam said patting me on the arm. I nodded, fighting back tears.

"Hey, don't cry. Mike and Fi and I… we're going to work to get that scumbag Husband of yours put away for a long time. Before you know it, you two will be living normal lives, together, again." Sam said, kindly putting his hands on either side of my shoulders.

"Thank you, Sam." I whispered giving him a watery smile.

"Don't mention it." He said as he pulled his sunglasses far enough down his nose to wink at me, once more.

I laughed and lightly smacked his arm. "Quit winking at me! I might start to like it. Then what?" I joked. Sam crossed his arms and laughed loudly in response.

The rest of my time at my in laws went quickly. Joshua looked cute as ever in his tennis outfit. I watched proudly as he went through his lesson with little to no trouble. He looked as if he was having the time of his life.

"I don't want you to go, Mommy." Josh whispered as he clung to me as we said out goodbyes.

"I have to, sweetheart." I whispered burying my face in his hair. "Like I said earlier, this is only temporary. We will be back together again very soon." I kissed the top of his head and put him down on the porch. "I love you Josh." I said bending down to kiss him on the cheek.

"I love you too, Mommy." He whispered back.

As if on cue a young maid stepped forward, gave me a reassuring smile and led Josh into the house.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" I called before she shut the door.

"You gonna be okay?" Sam asked as I plopped down in the passenger seat of Fiona's car.

"Yea." I answered, quickly wiping tears off my cheeks.

"You know, you can still change your mind before we leave here. You don't have to go back to Husband. We can just go back to Madeline's she'd be more than thrilled to have you stay with her for a while." Sam said gently.

I shook my head. "It's only for a week." I replied. "Please, just take me home."

After giving Sam directions we drove in silence for a good portion of the way, and that was fine with me. I finally spoke up when we entered my neighborhood. "There's a gas station up the street here." I said pointing down the street. "If you would just drop me off there I can walk home. It isn't far."

Sam looked at me and hesitated before speaking. "I'm not too sure if I like that or not…" he said his voice trailing off.

"It's fine. It really is. I don't want Jacob seeing me getting out of a strange man's car. It's just a precaution. You understand, right?" Sam looked at me solemnly but nodded in response.

"Thank you for everything, really I mean it." I said as I stood outside the driver's side of Fiona's car.

"Not a problem." Sam said with a smile. "Oh!" he said suddenly. "Before I forget…" he handed me a folded piece of paper. "Mike's number is on there... it's the top one, Fi's is second and mine's the last one. If you need anything, anything at all, call one of us." He urged.

"I will." I assured him putting the paper in the plastic bag with my cell phone. "It was nice meeting you today, Sam." I said with a smile.

"Ditto" Sam replied with a grin. "Sarah, please be careful." He added, seriously.

"I will Sam..." I assured.

The walk from the gas station to my house was a short peaceful one. Though, when I reached the house my insides ran cold when I saw that Jacob's car was in the driveway. I slowly and quietly let myself into the house. Jacob was waiting for me.

"Where the hell have you been?" he growled, advancing on me as soon as I walked through the door.

"Out." I answered quietly looking down at the living room floor.

"Out where?" he demanded, Snatching the plastic bag from my grasp.

"Stop it!" I shouted making a grab for the bag. He held it out just out of reach.

"I'll ask you again. Where were you?" he asked once more reaching into the bag.

'_Oh, god! Oh, god! Please don't grab the paper Sam just gave me! Please!'_ my mind screamed.

"I went to a friend's house after our fight last night. I needed a place to stay." I answered truthfully as Jacob pulled the cell phone out of the bag. I took a deep steadying breath… to mu relief the paper was still in the bag, unnoticed.

"Nice phone. I didn't know you made that kind of money at the diner." He said suspiciously, turning the phone over in his hand.

"I saved up enough for it." I lied.

"I see." He said dropping the phone and bag onto the floor. The phone landed with a sickening crack. "Oops." He said, mockingly.

I slowly kneeled down to pick the phone and bag up off the floor, but before I could reach out to grab either of the items I was roughly picked up by the back of my shirt. I found myself inches away from Jacob's face. Hazel locked onto ice cold blue. "What did you tell your friend about your bruises?" he asked calmly through gritted teeth.

"I said I fell." I lied as I closed my eyes, bracing myself for some sort of physical impact from Jacob. Surprisingly enough, he let go of me, seemingly satisfied with my answer. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and the plastic bag and retreated to the guest bedroom that was now serving as my room.

After locking the door and changing my clothes I inspected my phone. To my relief nothing was broken.

Tiredly, I found a spare outlet and plugged the phone in to it's charger. I stared at Michael's number on the paper Sam had given to me. After some thought I first entered Sam's number, then Fiona's into my contact list. Lastly, I entered Michael's number, and from the contact list I went into a new text message.

_Thank you for everything, Michael._

_Sarah._

I hit send, crawled into bed and closed my eyes. Moments later my phone vibrated making me jump. Hesitantly I looked at the screen.

_You don't have to thank me._

_Michael_

Much to my surprise I fell asleep easier than I thought I would.

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke up late...<p>

I brushed my teeth and got dressed in a hurry. I glanced at my phone I had three minutes to catch the public bus and fifteen to get to class. Grabbing my bag and my books I locked the front door hurriedly and took off running down the street. I reached the gas station just in time to watch the bus zoom right passed me.

"Great… just great." I groaned kicking the ground.

"Need a ride?" Asked a voice from behind me suddenly. I spun around in surprise to see Michael Westen sitting in a sleek black antique looking car.

"How…?" I began to ask but then stopped as Michael smiled at me.

"Are you getting in or not?" he asked as he leaned over and unlocked the passenger side door for me. Silently and a bit clumsily, I got into the car.

"Thank you, Michael." I whispered, smiling faintly.

"As I said last night, you don't have to thank me." he replied.

a/n- And there you have it! I really don't know what I think of this chapter. A lot of work went into it, but… I'm not sold on it. I don't know. Maybe I spent too much time on it? Who knows… Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Please, read and review! I love you guys!


End file.
